


The More the Merrier

by CommanderMo



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Christmas Fluff, F/F, Idiots in Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderMo/pseuds/CommanderMo
Summary: Kara let a beaming smile take over her face as she practically threw herself into the empty spot on the couch next to the other girl, “I knew you could make jokes, I felt it deep in my bones,” Kara poked her in the leg with a fuzzy-sock covered toe, “I think we’re going to be friends, Lena Luthor.”Lena rolled her eyes as she inconspicuously pushed some of the blankets toward Kara, “don’t bank on it, Danvers.”orlena and kara see each other once a year on christmas and create their own traditions
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers
Comments: 13
Kudos: 107





	1. year one

_year one._

Kara sat on the stairs impatiently tapping her fingers against her thigh; she couldn’t wait to see Alex, her sister had been away at college for _months_ and she didn’t even come home for Thanksgiving…this was the longest they’d ever been apart since she moved in with the Danvers’ four years ago and she was beyond excited to catch up and tell her sister everything that had been going on in Midvale and at school while she was away. They had kept in touch through a few phone calls here and there, but Alex was always pretty busy, and she felt like she didn’t even know the girl anymore! She had a whole plan for them, too, and she was excited to get started. They were going to go ice-skating, to look at the lights around the neighbourhood, drink hot cocoa and watch cheesy movies that Alex claimed to hate but secretly loves…it was going to be a great holiday with her favourite person.

“Eliza, do you think Alex is going to want to unpack before we go skating or do you think I should just get the skates out and be ready to go?” Kara asked as her adoptive mother walked down the stairs beside her.

“Kara, honey, I think–”

“I know, I know, I need to settle down,” Kara sighed, “I’m just so excited to see her, it’s been _forever_!”

“No, Kara, that’s not it, dear,” Eliza paused, “you know that our motto in this house is always the more the merrier, right?”

Kara frowned, “well, yeah, but what does–”

“Ho ho ho, did someone order one long-lost daughter and then some?” Jeremiah grinned as he walked into the house, Alex in tow along with two other girls that Kara had never seen before _and_ a baby.

She frowned harder as she watched Eliza wrap her sister in a big hug and tried to hear what they were whispering to each other, but it was no luck. What she didn’t miss though, was the fact that her sister had not let go of one of the stranger’s hands the entire time, and the other girl behind Alex and her…friend, seemed to want to be anywhere but there as she bounced the baby in her arms. Eliza didn’t look all that surprised at Alex bringing guests with her, but why wasn’t she surprised? Why hadn’t anyone told her that her sister was bringing not only one, but _two_ people _and_ a _baby_ home with her? It seemed like a pretty big deal; it was _Christmas_ for goodness sake!

“…and this is Lena, Sam’s friend, her family is–”

“All over the map for the holidays, unfortunately.”

Kara squinted at the abrupt interruption from the smaller of the two strangers, Lena, she was assuming. She didn’t look any older than Kara herself, although Lena’s outfit definitely was more mature than her Christmas sweater and worn-out jeans. Who wore a fur coat in real life anyways?

“Kar?”

“Huh?” Kara shook her head and put on a smile, “sorry, Al, what did you say?”

Alex frowned, “happy to see you too, sis,” she stepped closer to the stairs, the tall girl still being tugged along behind her only this time the baby was also with them, “this is Sam, my girlfriend, and this little cutie,” Alex grinned down at the tiny bundle, “is Ruby, Sam’s daughter.”

Kara blinked up at her sister blankly, “your…girlfriend and…her – her baby? Alex, what? Why,” she shook her head, “why didn’t you tell me? I mean, I know you’ve been busy but, we’ve talked! Did Eliza know?” She whipped her head in Eliza’s direction after seeing the guilty look on her sister’s face and the equally guilty look on her step-mother’s, “did everyone know except for me?” Her anger only growing as she watched her step-father duck his head as well.

“C’mon, Kar, I wanted to tell you in person, don’t be like that.” Alex pleaded, “you love babies, come on, hold her, I know you want to.”

Kara stood up wordlessly and walked through everyone in the front foyer of the house and out the door, slamming it shut behind her. Why hadn’t anyone told her? She only read her list of activities to Eliza almost every day while the woman took her to school, it never once occurred to her to mention that, _hey, Kara, your sister might not want to do any of those things because she’s bringing home an entirely new family with her!_ Alex was her best friend in the entire world, or at least she thought she was up until today, she felt like she didn’t know her sister at all anymore.

“If it makes you feel any better, I told them it was a horrible idea, but your sister was adamant on coming here and spending Christmas with you.”

Kara jumped slightly at the sudden voice, she hadn’t even heard the door open let alone someone step out, but she rolled her eyes at the unwelcomed intrusion.

“I offered to fly us somewhere warm quite honestly,” she hummed, “your sister almost bit my head off, I know you’re upset or mad, even if it’s your own pathetic attempt of mad, but Alex loves you and didn’t want to be anywhere but here.”

Kara bristled at this girl’s awful attempt at cheering her up, if that’s even what was happening right now and turned around to face her, “and who are you, exactly?”

“Lena Luthor, I’m Sam’s roommate.” The girl, Lena, said tightly, “and before you bite my head off too, I can assure you that I also told them that me coming along was an even worse idea and between you and I,” she paused, “I’ve never really done this whole close-knit-family-Christmas thing,” she said, gesturing with her hands, “and I’ll deny it if you tell anyone this but, I feel a little out of my depth here…and I really don’t know why I just admitted all of this to you, you don’t care.” She laughed humourlessly and shook her head.

Kara stared at the girl in front of her, she didn’t really seem like someone who often let her vulnerabilities show based on the fact that Kara could practically feel how uncomfortable she was just by looking at her. She felt bad that she had caused a scene, especially because that wasn’t at all like what a typical Danvers reunion was like and she made a horrible first impression on Alex’s girlfriend…oh god, Alex was going to be so disappointed in her.

“Would you like to go ice-skating?” Kara asked, needing an escape almost as bad as Lena seemed to need one.

Lena stared down at her hard, almost piercing her with her gaze, “I just said all of that and that’s all you have to say?”

Kara cocked her head to the side and shrugged, “do you want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.”

“So,” Kara grinned, “skating?”

Lena clenched her jaw, “no thank you.”

“What, why not?” Kara whined, “come on, I’ll even buy you a hot chocolate afterwards!”

Lena scrunched her nose, “I’ll pass.”

Kara narrowed her eyes as she stared at the girl who was trying to seem uninterested as she picked at her nails, “you’re scared, why?”

“I am not scared,” Lena huffed, “why would I be scared of something as juvenile as ice-skating? I simply just wish to not go.”

“Hot chocolate, then,” Kara offered, “there’s a little hut in town that makes it just right.”

“Is there a wrong way to make it?”

“You’ve never had a horrible cup of hot cocoa?” Kara asked incredulously, “I highly doubt that.”

Lena shrugged, “I’ve never had a cup of hot chocolate at all.”

Kara’s jaw dropped, “what do you–I don’t–Lena!” She gasped, “you’re eight-teen y–”

“Sixteen.”

“Sixteen years ol–” Kara paused, “wait, what? I thought you were Sam’s roommate?”

“I am.” Lena said simply.

“I thought you had to go to the university to live on campus.”

“You do.”

Kara’s eyebrows furrowed, “then…how?”

“I graduated early.”

“Two _years_ early?” Kara asked in awe, “you must be…wow, uh, congratulations on your brain.”

Lena looked down as a small grin stretched on her face, “I’ve never heard that one before, thank you, Kara.” She bit her lip, “I accept your offer.”

“M-my offer?” Kara asked dumbly, “The skating or the cocoa?”

Lena pondered, “both,” she decided with a firm nod, almost as if she were trying to convince herself it was a good idea.

Kara grinned brightly, “you won’t regret this, Lena, you’ll see!”

\--

Kara slouched in her chair guiltily as everyone around the dinner table tried their best to not mention Lena’s very obvious black eye, or the fact that she was sitting on about three different ice packs.

“So…how was everyone’s day?” Alex asked innocently, her eyes drifting between her sister and Lena, trying her best to suppress a smirk at the younger girl’s foul mood, “what did you kids get up to, Midvale High Fight Club? I warned you that public school was much different than boarding school, Lena.”

Kara tried to slink down even further in her chair as Lena shot an angry glare her way while everyone around the table tried to cover up their snickers, “we went skating,” she mumbled helplessly, “it seemed like a good idea.”

Sam eyed her friend curiously, “how did you get a black eye from skating?”

“ _Kara_ ,” She bit, “punched me in the face.”

“W- _what_?!” Kara sat up quickly, exclaiming indignantly, “I did _not_ punch you in the face,” she turned to the others with wide eyes, “I did not punch her in the face.”

“You did.”

“ _You_ …you punched yourself in the face.”

“Because _you_ wouldn’t let go of my hands even though I _told_ you that I was fine!” Lena shouted across the table at the other teen, “God, you are so–”

“Okay!” Sam interrupted forcefully, “that’s enough, I’m sure Kara didn’t mean to–” she paused and quickly corrected herself at Kara’s pout and Alex’s pleading look, “I’m sure it was an accident,” she settled on carefully.

Kara huffed and sat back in her chair, not wanting to continue the argument further. She had been having a really nice time with Lena up until they got to the rink and the girl’s demeanor had shifted tremendously, she wasn’t a mind reader for crying out loud! How was she supposed to know that Lena hadn’t ever been ice-skating either? She could have said something instead of trying to be so…so, self-confident! It was her own fault, in Kara’s honest opinion, and she didn’t feel bad.

Not even one bit.

Not even when Lena winced as she shifted in her chair, and especially not when Ruby’s chubby little baby hands gently patted Lena’s bruised face and she cringed in pain.

“Can someone pass me the black-eyed peas, please?” Jeremiah asked with an innocent smile on his face, ignoring the whine from his daughter and the daggers being shot at him from the girl who he had a good feeling would be making many more appearances at his table in the years to come…with or without Sam being the one to bring her along.

\--

Kara tiptoed into the living room quietly, despite resolving things with Alex and feeling tremendously better about her immature outburst earlier that day, she couldn’t sleep at all and didn’t want to disturb her sister who was out-cold with Sam and the baby in the bedroom next-door to her own. She was just going to make herself a cup of hot cocoa and watch a few of the hundreds of cheesy Hallmark movies that were sure to be on until she felt tired, only slightly wishing Alex was awake to hang out with her.

She startled as she stepped into the living room and saw someone in there, a blanket wrapped around their shoulders and a mug in their hands, the Hallmark channel already on and in the middle of a movie.

Lena looked up in alarm at being caught, “Mrs. Danvers, uh, your mom, um, she said it was fine if I slept in here.”

“I have an extra bed in my room, it used to be Alex’s but she’s in the guest room with Sam,” Kara frowned, “did Eliza not mention it?”

“No, um, she did,” Lena tried to hide the blush that was filling her cheeks, “you were already in your room, I didn’t want to impose so I just,” She trailed off, gesturing to her nest of blankets on the couch.

Kara bit her lip, “how about we watch this movie and then you come upstairs and sleep in a real bed?” She let a small smile play on her lips, “I promise there will be no bruises involved.”

Lena stared at her almost calculating, as if she were a problem that needed solving, it made her a little nervous and she tried to ignore the pit in her stomach that grew the longer Lena took to answer. She could feel an anxious sweat start and felt her heartbeat pick up a little as Lena’s gaze turned from analytical to curious and then to relief.

“I mean, it is the least you could do after you subjected me to an afternoon of pain and suffering,” Lena grinned softly.

Kara let a beaming smile take over her face as she practically threw herself into the empty spot on the couch next to the other girl, “I knew you could make jokes, I felt it deep in my bones,” Kara poked her in the leg with a fuzzy-sock covered toe, “I think we’re going to be friends, Lena Luthor.”

Lena rolled her eyes as she inconspicuously pushed some of the blankets toward Kara, “don’t bank on it, Danvers.”

Kara grinned and made herself comfortable, cuddling a pillow tightly to her chest and draping the little bit of blanket over her legs, not bothering to mention that there were at least ten more blankets in the ottoman by the Christmas tree. For the first time that day, she appreciated the Danvers’ motto.

The more the merrier indeed.


	2. year two

_year two._

Kara sang happily along to the radio in her car as she waited outside of the train station, she had finally gotten her license earlier in the year and her and Jeremiah spent the summer fixing up a beat-up car that a neighbour had sold them for a really good price. It was her baby and it had character; she didn’t care that it smelled like a lawn mower or that the backseat had only one seatbelt. It was hers and she would drive it until it gave out on her…which, some days, it felt like the end was going to be _very_ soon.

The dial on her radio hadn’t moved from the Christmas station since the first day of December and she hadn’t been very nice to anyone who tried to change it thus far, so Alex was about to get the same treatment when she inevitably complained as soon as she got into the car. As excited as she was to see her sister, Christmas music still held more importance and she was going to sing the bah humbug right out of Alex’s heart if she had to.

She hadn’t seen Alex since August since she hadn’t come home for Thanksgiving again and instead spent it with Sam and Lena in their new apartment. She had invited Kara to spend it with them, but Eliza and Jeremiah had refused to let her drive to National City alone in her beater car.

Despite Sam (and Ruby) joining Alex again this year for Christmas, she had promised to do at least _one_ activity just the two of them and Kara had already decided that the activity was going to be walking around the nicer neighbourhoods in town where all of the houses on the streets decorated their houses with more lights than a person should be able to afford in their lifetime. It was one of her favourite things that Alex had ever done with her the first year that she lived with the Danvers, her first Christmas without her bio-family. She hadn’t told her sister yet, but she was even going to extend the invite to Sam because she knew how much Alex would want her girlfriend to experience the most exciting thing Midvale had to offer during the Christmas season.

“Jesus, this thing was in better condition when it sat on cement blocks on Mr. Stone’s driveway,” Alex huffed as she carefully opened the driver-side door to greet her sister, too afraid it would fall off the hinges if she pulled too hard, “you going to come out here and help with the bags or are you going to continue staring off into space?”

“Alex!” Kara grinned as she jumped out of the car to hug her sister, “I didn’t even see you, how was the ride out here? I wanted to drive out to National City to pick you up, but Eliza refused, I don’t know why!”

Alex eyed at the car skeptically for a brief second before staring at Kara in mock disbelief, “me neither, Kar, this thing could definitely make the 8-hour round trip for sure.”

“Okay, okay, you two,” Sam said with a grin, stepping around Alex to give the blonde a big hug, “it’s really nice to see you again, Kara, and not just through a screen.”

Kara hugged the taller woman tightly, “you too, where’s Ruby?”

Sam laughed lightly as she pulled back from the hug, “oh, she–”

“I still don’t understand how I received diaper duty for this trip, but I can assure you my lawyer will be hearing about it.”

Kara tried not to gawk, honestly, she did, but Lena was stomping toward her at full force and she looked better than she did last year, if that was even possible. Alex never mentioned that the teen-genius would be coming along with them again, although she should have considered it to be a possibility since it didn’t seem like Lena went home to see her own family… _ever._

“You can’t use that threat every single time you get stuck with a chore, Luthor,” Alex rolled her eyes as she took Ruby from Lena and turned to strap her into the car seat that was already set up in the back of Kara’s car, “this is how things work in the real world.”

Sam groaned as she finished loading the trunk with the bags and rounded the car to slide into the backseat on one side of the toddler, “enough of the Lena knows nothing about the real-world jabs, she’s made a lot progress since moving in with us,” Sam smirked, “she knows how much fruit costs now, that’s huge!”

Kara bit her lip as she watched Lena glare at the two older women, “if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t know what vegetables were until I moved in with the Danvers,” she offered helplessly before shrinking back as the glare focused on her and opted to just get into the car instead of trying to say something else, she couldn’t believe that she already pissed Lena off…they hadn’t even left the train station yet. She could already tell this was going to be a long week together and all of the progress they made last year felt forgotten about.

“God, I can’t stand Christmas music,” Lena complained as she turned the dial on the radio from her spot in the front seat, Kara hadn’t even realized that she had gotten in the car, let alone the front of all places. She stared at her sister in the backseat through the rear-view mirror and narrowed her eyes at the woman’s shit-eating grin.

“Does this thing pick up anything other than insufferable carols?”

Kara huffed as she put the car in drive and ignored the teen next to her, _who didn’t like Christmas music anyway? What a grinch,_ she thought, trying to focus on the road and not the fact that her arm was basically brushing Lena’s as the girl fiddled with the radio.

And she definitely didn’t focus on the little happy grin on Lena’s face when she found a talk-radio station and kept it on despite everyone’s protests with a “ _this is what you all get for not letting me charter the private jet to come here and subjecting me to the train of all things.”_

She didn’t even realize that she hadn’t given Lena the same fiery response everyone else had gotten for changing the Christmas station until later on that night when she drove to volleyball practice and startled at the monotone voice filling the car.

Crap.

\--

“How many lights do you think there are on that house?” Kara asked the group as they stood and watched the display, somehow her kind gesture of including Sam meant that it also included Lena, and now Alex and Sam were in their own mushy-gross-couple-y world and she was stuck with Scrooge McLena who was absolutely ruining all of the joy and magic of Christmas every single time she opened her dumb Grinch mou–

“About six hundred-thousand, give or take a thousand or so,” Lena answered matter-of-factly from her spot next to Kara, completely oblivious to the fact that the blonde was getting more and more frustrated with her, “is that not obvious?”

Kara gave her long look before shaking her head and looking at the house again, she hadn’t wanted an actual factual answer. It was part of the fun her and Alex had of wondering just how many lights people used and trying to guess by just looking who had the most and deciding who the winner was that year. It was something they always did, and Lena was absolutely ruining all of the fun by answering with what was probably a spot-on answer every time.

“I’d say at least five hundred lights on the next one, Kar,” Alex grinned, “what’s your guess?”

Kara smiled gratefully at her sister, “definitely at least eight hundred,”

This is what she wanted, goofy answers and outrageous numbers that were completely made up and not at all factual. She was beyond glad that despite being completely caught up in Sam, her sister was still in there and paying attention to her and the one tradition she kept the closest to her heart.

“What do you mean five hundred?” Lena asked with an incredulous scoff, “that’s way more than five hundred.”

“I said _at least_ five hundred, but you’re right,” Alex said with a thoughtful look, “Kara’s probably much closer, I’m going to go with at least eight hundred too,” she threw her head back and laughed loudly at the teen’s huff and dramatic eyeroll, looping her arm through Sam’s and dragging her ahead while she pointed out things around them.

Kara laughed lightly at Alex purposely pushing Lena’s buttons, she knew that her sister probably did this often based off of Sam’s exasperated expression; it made her feel warm inside that Alex liked Lena enough to joke around and tease her and she couldn’t put her finger on why, unsure if she even wanted to know the answer.

She gently bumped Lena’s shoulder with her own as they walked throughout the streets, “I know it seems silly,” She started, her voice wavering not knowing if she was ready to share this information with Lena, but also wanting to at the same time, “when I first moved in with the Danvers, I had a _really_ hard time. My only living bio-relative refused to raise me after my parents died and I was so angry all of the time at everything,” she paused with a sad look, “I was a jerk, I took off on Christmas Eve because they weren’t doing any of my family’s traditions, but I also hadn’t told them about any of them, you know? So, there was no way for them to know really but I was just so mad and felt like I was suffocating so I snuck out while Eliza and Jeremiah were setting the table for dinner.”

Kara eyed Lena curiously, noticing a slight look of understanding and encouragement in her eyes she continued, “Alex saw me leave and followed me the whole time, I didn’t really know where I was going I just kept walking until I got to this neighbourhood and saw the lights,” she took a shuddering breath, “walking around and looking at Christmas lights was something my parents did with me for as long as I could remember and when I found these houses, I felt like I could finally breathe.”

She had never admitted that to Alex, or to anyone for that matter, this was just another thing to add to the _Lena just has a way about her_ box that was slowly becoming refrigerator-sized and would need to be unpacked at some point.

But not yet.

“Anyways, um,” she cleared her throat and shook her head, “she didn’t say anything to me for a good hour or so and then she just stood right next to me and looked at this ridiculously decorated house and claimed it had at least twenty lights on it even though it probably had twenty million,” Kara laughed lightly, “she said it like it was the most obvious, normal thing in the world and then we just moved on to the next one and she did it again and again until I played along and eventually felt ready to go back home.”

She knew Alex had no idea how much that night meant to her and that she probably never would, but it was a real turning point for her and it was the day she had decided to accept the Danvers and embrace her new family with open arms and an open heart.

“I was adopted too, sort of, as much as you can be when your adoptive dad is actually your bio-dad,” Lena rambled with a wave of her hand, “my brother, Lex, he was my Alex when I moved in with the Luthors, we’re not as close now that he’s taken over the family business in Metropolis, but he’ll always be my big brother.”

Kara blinked in surprise at the new information totally not expecting Lena to share something personal back, she wasn’t sure how to respond without making a big deal out of what the girl had told her since Lena hadn’t made a big deal about it either.

“Hey, Danvers?”

Thankfully she didn’t have to think of anything as Lena interrupted her spiralling thought process before she fell down a deep, deep hole.

“Yes, Lena?”

“I think there are at least one million lights on that house over there,” Lena said with a proud smile, her mitten-clad hand wrapping around Kara’s bicep as she dragged her closer to the house.

Despite the temperature being way too cold, Kara suddenly felt warm all over and let herself be tugged along to look at the house that most definitely had one million lights on it, but Lena was trying and honestly she looked way too cute and Kara didn’t want to be the one to ruin it.

“Kara?”

“Yeah?”

“There are actually one million and eight lights,” Lena frowned, “I don’t think I’m playing this game right.”

Kara laughed and slipped her mitten-covered hand into Lena’s and pulled her to the next house, oblivious to the gentle smile Alex was giving her or the pictures being taken of her and Lena hand-in-hand.

\--

“Didn’t we watch this movie last year?”

“No.”

“I promise you we did.”

“We didn’t, this one is new this year, there was a countdown for it and everything,” Kara answered distractedly, her eyes glued to the screen as she shoved popcorn into her mouth, half of the kernels not fitting and falling helplessly onto the couch and floor.

“Danvers, I am certain we watched this one last year,” Lena argued, her arm flailing under the blanket the two were sharing, “maybe it was one of the ones you fell asleep for, but I know I watched it.”

Kara shook her head quickly, “they all just have the same storyline, girl from the city has to go to a small Christmas town for some reason, falls for a prince or Santa or Santa’s son and then there is conflict because she has to go back to the city but misses the small town.”

“Well,” Lena frowned, “that’s stupid, why do so many people watch them every year?”

Kara paused, hand halfway to her mouth with more popcorn in it, “do you wanna watch something else? Your pick?”

“No!” Lena said a little too quickly, “I mean, no, this is acceptable I suppose,” she said, trying to seem unaffected, “I just wish they weren’t so,”

“Cheesy?”

“I was going to say heterosexual,” Lena snorted not noticing Kara’s wide-eye look, “I could live with how ridiculously dumb they are if they’d just have some lesbians or something, give me small Christmas town girl going to the big city for the first time and falling for some hot woman CEO, you know?” She sighed and sipped her hot chocolate, completely missing Kara’s gay panic and the fact that she had choked on a popcorn kernel somewhere between small town girl and hot CEO falling in love.

“Yeah,” Kara tried to breathe out evenly so that she didn’t alert Lena to her totally not calm state, “totally.”

Crap again.

\--

“That is the foulest thing I have ever seen.”

Kara grinned down happily at her ginormous mug of hot cocoa, it had a total of five giant marshmallows in it, whipped cream, candy cane bits, chocolate syrup _and_ a whole candy cane in it, she couldn’t wait to drink it.

“Honestly I don’t understand how you’re so in shape,” Lena huffed into her own mug of plain hot chocolate, “I’ve seen the way you eat.”

“Good luck mostly,” Kara mumbled around the two marshmallows in her mouth, “also volleyball helps, I have to stay in shape to hit those balls,” she grinned as she pretended to hard spike a ball, her tight-fitting long sleeve clinging to her biceps as she did.

“Right, arms–I mean, um, they would be important for such a sport.”

Kara cocked her head as she watched a slight blush fill both of Lena’s cheeks while she tried very hard to keep her eyes on her mug and nowhere else.

Huh.

“Are you excited to try skating again this year?” She asked, hoping the change of topic would help the girl’s sudden weird mood.

“Yes, I’ve been studying, and I think I’ve got it figured out,” Lena said with a sure nod, “it’s simple physics! I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”

“What? Lena, you can’t,” Kara started helplessly, “why are you like this? I don’t think you ever had fun as a kid.”

“Fun is not something young children should waste their time with,” Lena said in a posh tone, pausing to sip from her mug daintily before continuing, “dirty hands and scraped knees are for miscreants, _not_ Luthors.”

Kara stared at Lena for a long second before grabbing her phone and pointing it right at her with the camera recording, “you have a hot chocolate mustache, _Miss Luthor_.”

She laughed loudly as Lena tried to snatch the still recording phone right out of her hands, lunging across the table to get it but unable to as she held it high above her head, her arm shaking with how hard she was laughing.

“Give me that phone right now or else my–”

“Yeah yeah your lawyer will be hearing about it, I know,” Kara dismissed easily as she saved the video and locked her phone, shoving it deep into her pocket as she stood up, polished off the rest of her hot chocolate and happily popped the candy cane into her mouth.

Lena crossed her arms tightly and frowned, “you’re not very nice.”

Kara pointed her candy cane in Lena’s direction as she turned toward the exit of the shop, “and you’re not that fancy, you still have a hot chocolate mustache.”

She laughed loudly again as she heard Lena scrambling to wipe it off along with some real colorful language,

_what a goon._

\--

Kara stared at Lena dumbfounded, “you…landed a double axel perfectly because of–of, science?”

“Physics,” Lena shrugged as she easily skated backwards, “to be specific.”

Kara continued to stare at her, sure she had seen Ice Princess but that was a Disney movie for crying out loud, she didn’t think it was really–

“Okay, I also maybe practiced a few times since last year,” Lena admitted as she pivoted quickly, missing Kara’s small grin at the admission.

“How many times?”

“Hm?”

“How many times did you practice?”

“Once or twice month.”

“She was at the rink every single day for a month straight,” Alex loudly whispered to her sister as she skated up next to her having heard the tail-end of their conversation, “Sam and I are convinced she bought the rink solely so that she could use it at her leisure.”

“She bought a rink?” Kara asked her sister in disbelief, “you bought an ice rink?” She called up to Lena who was holding onto Ruby’s hands as the toddler wobbled on her little skates and Sam sat behind her, ready to catch her if need be.

“I did not _buy_ an ice rink,” Lena rolled her eyes, “I simply invested in a business.”

“And yet she won’t invest in my college fund or the apartment building we live in so that we don’t have to pay rent anymore,” Alex faux-sighed, “funny how that works, isn’t it?”

“You guys wouldn’t even let me buy the apartment below us so that we could have more space!”

“Lena, we live in the penthouse, we don’t need more space!” Sam replied almost immediately, probably not for the first time, either.

“If Kara joins us instead of going to the University of Metropolis next year, we’re definitely going to need the space,” Alex argued, “especially the refrigerator space.”

Kara watched as a flurry of emotions passed over Lena’s face at that comment, unable to read any of them.

“Alex, no.” Sam glared at her girlfriend before turning back to face Lena, “don’t even think about it.”

Lena shrugged, “we can just remodel the kitchen.”

Kara shook her head fondly at her sister’s triumphant smirk and Sam’s tired sigh, as much as she wanted to study in Metropolis…NCU was sounding better and better every day.

She watched Lena gently pull Ruby along with an unguarded easy smile on her face and wrote the funny feeling in her stomach off as baby fever, although if she started unpacking that box that was only growing bigger by the minute, she’d maybe realize that it wasn’t baby fever at all.

Not in the least.

Especially not when Ruby wasn’t even around and the funny, fluttering feeling was still pulling deep in her gut and making her feel warm all over.

She’d unpack that box eventually.

Just not today.

\--

“See you next Christmas, Danvers?”

Kara smiled, “hopefully before then.”

“I don’t know,” Lena shrugged, “Christmas is kinda our thing, I wouldn’t want to mess that up.”

Kara watched as the girl jogged to catch up to Alex and Sam who were more than halfway to their train already having not waited for Lena to spit out whatever she was fighting with herself to say.

It had taken her a few minutes, but she had nervously rushed it out with an easy breezy smile although Kara could tell she was feeling everything other than easy or breezy, but she wasn’t going to tease her for it.

Not when she herself didn’t have the courage to say anything the entire drive to the train station or during the walk inside.

No, Lena was definitely far braver than she was even if it had taken her some time to get it out.

She blushed as Lena turned back just before getting on the train to give her a small wave, her own hand raising and waving flimsily and unsure.

Her blush deepening as Lena gave her a goofy look and eye roll before disappearing into the train, a soft _bye, Kara_ lingering behind her.

She had the sudden urge to call her sister and convince her to stay until New Year’s for some reason unknown to her, or at least for reasons she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Not yet.

She walked back to her car deep in thought and paused when she saw a neatly wrapped present placed carefully on the dashboard in front of the steering wheel with a note beside it.

_To Kara,_

_May your days be merry and bright._

_Lena xx_

Kara unwrapped the present gently, her eyes glistening as she stared down at the open box in her lap. There was an intricate snow globe inside, but it wasn’t just another generic globe from the store. It had a miniature replica of one of her favourite houses in it and two little figures standing in front of it, hand-in-hand.

At first glance, she thought it was her and Alex, but as she slowly lifted it out of the box and stared at it, she realized that it was her and Lena. The photograph the snow globe was clearly modeled after lay in the bottom of the box in a beautiful frame, she hadn’t even known that the photo existed until right now.

She wasn’t sure how Lena had even managed to get this done in such a short amount of time, but figured it had something to do with Christmas magic (and money).

She felt a tear slip as she wound the snow globe and watched as the house lit up and a soft musical version of _White Christmas_ played along with the twinkling Christmas lights on the house.

She shook it gently and watched as the snow swirled around, much like her current emotions and feelings.

She might have to unpack that box sooner than she thought.

Or at least some time before next Christmas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they are a pair of idiots and i love them

**Author's Note:**

> i'm thinking it's going to be about 6 chapters...unless things happen and this story takes over my entire life.


End file.
